


all it takes is starry nights

by HackedByAWriter



Category: Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (2020)
Genre: Fluff, Inspired by an Imagine Dragons Song, Late Night Drives, M/M, Many more - Freeform, Song: Drive (Imagine Dragons), Star Gazing, milo - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26043475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HackedByAWriter/pseuds/HackedByAWriter
Summary: Star Gazing + The Flash + Marvel + Dream Girl + Imagine Dragons ft A Roadtrip.for my only valid parent Mehan. I love you.
Relationships: Kartik Singh/Aman Tripathi
Comments: 12
Kudos: 23





	all it takes is starry nights

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mehan kartik (daydreamingstoryteller)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/daydreamingstoryteller/gifts).



> For Mehan
> 
> My only valid parent and fellow Leo. HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU BITCH AS HOE! I did not know what to write for your birthday. Really I did not. I considered so many things but in the end I came up with an amalgamation of all the things you have loved.
> 
> But that aside I want to say I love beyond what words can say. If someone told me six months ago that I would become this close to someone who I have never met, I would have laughed in their face. Yet here I am. I want to thank you not only for your love and support but also for your honesty and your general badassery. You scare me sometimes but that’s honestly fine, I suppose all parents are scary in their own way. 
> 
> Thank you in short for being here, thick and thin. For being an absolutely amazing individual with such a unique perspective of the world. Thank you for existing.
> 
> In the words of Barry Allen:
> 
> “Not every hero needs a mask. Some heroes save the day in the simplest of ways. By just being there for us, or letting us know we’re believed in.”
> 
> Anyway this fic is dedicated to you, your love for The Flash, Marvel, stars, quantum physics, Dream Girl, Imagine Dragons, your terrible driving skills (I’m not letting you TOUCH my steering wheel when you come to Australia), our shared appreciation for Milo and your second marriage kink (no one else ask).
> 
> \- Your duckling Sargun

The thing about Kartik Singh was you never knew what he was planning next. So when Aman Tripathi found himself sitting next to Kartik in a beat up four-wheel drive in the middle of the highway he was not surprised. Kartik’s spontaneity was something he loved, but his driving was something he did not.

“You’re going to get us killed,” Aman mumbled as Kartik swerved a sharp left to avoid a tree. “Sometimes you make me believe in the stereotype that gays can’t drive.”

“We’re married,” said Kartik. “And _you_ can drive.”

“Then let me take the wheel.”

“I’d rather die,”

“I think we both will if you keep at it.”

Kartik did not answer him but did indeed keep at his dangerous driving. Despite himself Aman let out a smile. There was something exciting about this dangerous late night trip to the middle of God knows where. He tried to let himself relax which was a task with Kartik driving. There was a reason why he never let Kartik use his bike. It was a task but he managed it. 

Aman turned on the radio to calm his nerves.

_Drive, I got my head on aright_

_I got my people strapped tight_

_I got my head on aright_

_Oh oh oh oh_

The music bore such strange parallels to his and Kartik’s current state that Aman briefly wondered whether the gods did indeed exist, and how he had ever wronged them so as to mock him so.

“Where are we going?” Aman asked after a while. “Do you even have a plan?”

Kartik grinned “Don’t you remember my four rules? Make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan. Follow my lead Aman and you will be fine.”

“They’re not your rules,” huffed Aman. “They’re Snart’s. Can you think of something original for once?”

“Kyun baby? We’re not in college anymore, the professor won’t be after us with plagiarism checkers.”

“No but I will be.”

“Kya baat hai,” Kartik turned to Aman. “I married a human Turnitin.”

Aman did not respond, their four wheel drive was veering off the road Aman, leapt to the drivers side pulling at the steering wheel until they were back on the road.

“Give me the driver’s seat.” said Aman, breathless.

“No,”

“You cannot drive if your life depended on it.”

“What is the point of owning a car if you can’t drive it?” Kartik smiled. “Besides you don’t know where we are going?”  
  


“So you do have a plan?”

“Contrary to popular belief,” said Kartik indignantly. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”

“Quoting Tony Stark doesn’t assure me as much as it should.”

Kartik laughed at that and somehow he managed (miraculously) to drive the rest of the way without major incident. They had driven many miles North of Allahabad coming to a secluded sugar cane field. Aman mentally apologised to whoever owned it for the deep tyre marks that Kartik left behind. 

The parked in the middle of the field and the first thing Aman said was:

“I’m driving the way back.”

“Sure thing,” Kartik shrugged and opened the sunroof of their four-wheel drive. In one quick practiced motion he lifted himself up so that he was sitting up on the roof. He looked down at Aman. “Come on up, and bring the blanket and the thermos flask with you?”

Aman did as he was bidden and with Kartik’s help he too was on the roof of their beat up four-wheel drive. Aman looked around him. Under the light of the moon the canefield, usually green and bright took on an eerie ghostly glow. Ethereal and strangely beautiful, barren of all colour it touched Aman in a haunting way.

_This road never looked so lonely_

_This house doesn't burn down slowly_

_To ashes_

_To ashes_

“A date in the middle of a sugar cane field,” remarked Aman, looking at the eerie swaying of the sugarcanes in the breeze. “Very romantic.”

“Stop looking at the cane field and look up.” said Kartik. 

So Aman looked up. Stars were not something new to him. He saw them every night. But tonight they shone brighter, brilliant gems against the glistening deep velvet blue of the night sky. Tonight the milky way was clear cut and glittering above him. 

“The stars are always brighter in the countryside than in the city,” said Kartik after a while. “You always said you wanted to learn about stars and their constellations as a kid so I thought tonight would be perfect. The sky was going to be clear tonight and the weather perfect.”

“When did you become an expert constellations?”

Kartik grinned. “Last night.”

“Just like how you’re an expert on quantum physics?”

“I only know enough to make conversation,” admitted Kartik. “Come on you have to admit my dedication is admirable.”

Aman found himself grinning like a fool. Because he was right. It was admirable. 

_It's time to begin, isn't it?_

_I get a little bit bigger but then I'll admit_

_I'm just the same as I was_

_Now don't you understand_

_I'm never changing who I am_

“Pass me the flask won’t you,” said Kartik. 

Kartik was not really that far away from Aman but he took the liberty of throwing it at him anyway. Kartik caught it with ease, his days of being the twelfth man in college cricket it seemed had not gone to waste. 

He unscrewed the flask and took a large swig of the substance. When they were in college Kartik used to stow away whiskey and cola in this very flask. Aman had no reason to suspect it to be otherwise.

“Want some?” asked Kartik. 

“Sure,”

The flask was handed to him (not thrown, Kartik knew just how miserable Aman’s reflexes were). Aman placed the mouth of the flask to his lips, expecting the cool familiar taste of whisky and cola. Instead the substance was warm, creamy, sweet and chocolatey. The difference between his expectations and the reality almost made him spit it out.

“It’s fucking Milo,” exclaimed Aman, idignant. 

“And so?” asked Kartik.

Keshav had recently gone to Australia to study Economics. He had sent them a tin of Milo claiming it to be an Australian Bournvita. Aman did not particularly mind it but Kartik had taken an intense liking to it. Like a boy of ten he took three glasses of warm milk every day and made sure he mixed it with Milo and sugar. Aman had not expected his passion for Milo to infiltrate his infamous whiskey flask.

“I thought it was going to be whiskey.”

“Dono alag alag hote kya? If you don’t want it pass it here.”

Aman responded by taking a sip of Milo, “No chance in hell”

Kartik tried to grab if from him but he only succeeded in falling back into the car. Instead of helping him Aman laughed at his dilemna. Kartik’s subsequent cursing only made the situation more amusing that it was.

It was then that Aman’s phone started ringing. 

“Who is it?” Asked Kartik.

Aman looked at the screen and grimaced. “Work”

He had recently gotten a job as a high school science tutor. He claimed the tutoring center that he worked for were the scum of the earth. He liked the kids, but the center gave him too many hours with not enough pay. He did not want to quit however it was the only halfway decent job he had been able to get.

“Phone de.” Demanded Kartik.

“Kyun?”

“Just pass it.”

“No. Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“…genius billionaire playboy philanthropist. **”**

“You are literally the exact opposite.”

“Trust me Aman.”

_So I, I bet my life, I bet my life_

_I bet my life for you_

_I, I bet my life, I bet my life_

_I bet my life for you_

With encouragement from the car radio Aman relented thinking that Kartik would merely end the call and put his phone on silent so that they could enjoy their stargazing in peace. 

What he did not expect was for Kartik to pick up the call.

Aman reached out to prise his phone from Kartik for there was a mischievous glint in Kartik’s eyes and a shit eating grin splayed across his face. He stopped Aman from advancing further by placing a hand on his chest.

“Hello” he said to Aman’s boss, in a voice that sounded uncannily female, it was a talent Aman usually found fascinating but tonight it was irritating. “Main Pooja bol rahi hoon .. Kya hua awaaz achi nahi lagi…lagi naa toh karna…. Baatein aur bhi achi lagengi meri…aur...”

As Kartik started on a rather ridiculous, salacious one-sided flirtation with Aman’s boss. Aman could do nothing but watch on helplessly, making silent protestations against the hand that was at his chest. 

He could hear his boss’s scandalised muffled exclaims. He did not know what would happen tomorrow at work, only that he was going to be in for an earful. 

“Saale hanged up,” muttered Kartik when the other line went silent.

“If I get fired it’s your fault.” said Aman.

“You won’t,” assured Kartik, surreptitiously taking the flask of Milo from Aman’s hand. “You’re the best they have. And even if they did it doesn’t matter, you’ve always wanted to quit.”

“Not like this,”

“Relax baby, I didn’t bring you all the way here to get you stressed out over work.” he patted the spaced beside him. “Come here, I can’t possibly teach you about the stars if you’re all the way over there.”

Aman sighed but made his way to Kartik’s side, blanket in tow. Kartik took the blanket and wrapped it around both of them. Aman nestled himself into Kartik’s chest breathing in the familiar scent of his cologne, blue Ralph Lauren, Aman had gifted it to him on their anniversary last year. 

He looked up at the stars as brilliant and as beautiful as Kartik’s smile.

“Tell me then.”

“As I was conducting my research I came across something rather curious.”

“And what was that?”

“Well Egyptians were the first to map the constellations. I was looking into this, one thing led to another. Did you know that the ancient Egyptians took out the brains of the dead mummies out through their nose to prepare them for the afterlife. They used a hook, put it up through the nose, mashed the brain around for a bit and then pulled it out through the nostril.”

“They what?” Aman pulled away from Kartik. “I did not need to know that.”

“Listen-”

“Why would I need to know how Egyptians took out brains?”

“It will help with quizzes,”

“What kind of quizzes have you been taking?”

Kartik grinned but did not answer, only pulled Aman closer into him and kissed his forehead. It never failed to make Aman warm on the inside. But a questioned nagged at him.

“What did they take out their brains like?” 

“The Egyptians believed that the brain was useless,” Kartik replied.

“Yours certainly is.”

Kartik laughed and kissed him again and this time on the cheek. Aman could remember the first time he had kissed his cheek. In college, they had just been friends then, the kiss had been a tentative one, laced with longing for something they thought could never have been. This kiss now was familiar and sweet like the taste of his mother’s kheer.

“Now are you going to teach me about stars?” asked Aman.

Kartik shifted their position so that his head rested on top of Amans. It allowed for Aman to see the sky better from Kartik’s point of view.

Kartik pointed to one of the brighter stars. “That over there is the Polaris most commonly known as the North Star. It is what sailors used to navigate.”

“Is there more? Or is that all you decided to learn?”

“There’s Orion’s Belt,” said Kartik. “Have you ever heard the myth of Orion?”

“If it’s fucking tragic I don’t think want to. You know I don’t like tragedy.”

“We’ve seen too much of it,” agreed Kartik. “Happy endings are infinitely better. But you have to let me tell you about Leo.”

“ _Your_ star sign? I should have guessed. Textbook narcissism at its finest.”

“You know I am worth it though.”

Aman smiled, burrowing his face further into Kartik. He would never say it aloud, he did not have to, but Kartik was right. He was worth it. Everything they had gone through was worth it in the end.

“That’s the Southern Cross.” Announced Kartik proudly at a formation of stars that did not remotely look like a cross. Aman did not think they were facing the South either.

“I thought that was only in Australia.”

“Shows what you know.” huffed Kartik he pointed up to another set of stars and traced out a love heart. “And that’s the Karmanus Singhpathius”

_Tell me the things that you want (you want)_

_I give you all that I've got (I've got)_

_Open your eyes, then you will see_

“Now I know you’re making it up.”

“I am being serious. It’s a real constellation.” protested his husband.

They dissolved into fits of laughter at that. Aman only wished they could throw the keys somewhere in the cane field. He wished that the sun would not rise, that the stars would not die, that their flask of Milo would not run out. He wanted to live in this moment forever.

_It's just you and me_

_Only_

_Throwing out the key_

_Just living in a dream_

“You think they’ll ever name stars after us?” Kartik asked after a while.

“ _They_ don’t need to. You already have.”

Kartik’s arms tightened around Aman then. “Sometimes I can’t believe we did it.” he said.

“Did what?”

“Rewrite the stars, make our own constellations. I thought they would break us apart, I thought that we would end in tragedy like the rest of them. But we’re still here.”

“And we’ll continue,” said Aman. He was used to Kartik’s philosophical moments, he was used to matching them with his own musings. “We’ll have a future, a proper one, like the ones before us never could.”

“I never thought we’d have even that,” Kartik admitted. “I used to live like every moment would be my last with you. But now I can see the future. I can see us, growing up, getting old together. After all Mard ke sar ke baal white ho sakte hai, lekin dil ke nahi. We’ll buy a house, fight, make love.” he paused. “Maybe we’ll marry again.”

“Kink,” Aman interjected with a grin. 

Kartik had been bringing up the notion of marrying again now that marriage was soon to be legalised in India. He had been doing it so often that the only way Aman could cope with it (and not go insane with annoyance) was to call it a kink. 

Yes they were married in the way that mattered. No law on the earth could overturn that, or invalidate what they had done that night under the moon, the stars, the fairy lights and the disapproving gaze of all around them. 

That had been their true marriage. But Aman could not deny there was certain beauty in doing it all over again. Properly. 

But right now he did not want to think of the future. He only wanted to feel Kartik’s arms, his warmth, he wanted to hear his voice and his ridiculous arrangements of constellations. For now that was enough.

_It's just you and me_

_Only_

_Listen to you breathe_

_Just living in a dream_

_It's just you and me_

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I tried so hard to get this fic done by today. It's not as great as I wanted it to be but I hoped you enjoyed it none the less . I have present pt 2 planned later this week. You already what it is. 
> 
> Anyway fuck you. I hate you and I love you, you cocky little shit of an asshole. Fucking bitch. I still can't believe you didn't know Egyptians took out their brains like that.


End file.
